- Robbie Waterhouse appeared in court on Monday
- Betting firm accused of gambling-related offences
- He is married to Gai Waterhouse.
Australia’s best-known bookmaker will have to wait months to learn his fate following allegations he offered a punter incentives to continue betting after being asked to close his account.
Robbie Waterhouse, 69, is fighting allegations that he breached the Betting and Racing Act during interactions with a customer of his betting website RobWaterhouse.com in May 2022.
One of the website’s customers requested the permanent closure of his account on May 14, the court previously heard.
Liquor & Gaming NSW alleges that the customer’s account was deactivated but not permanently closed.
The state regulator says Waterhouse, the husband of legendary horse trainer Gai Waterhouse, accepted new bets from the customer on six occasions after the customer asked to close his account.
The court previously heard that a RobWaterhouse.com representative offered the customer matched deposits, worth up to $1000, or a $100 bonus bet.
His attorney, Rob Ranken, previously reviewed chat logs between the customer and a customer service representative in which the customer threatened to take his business elsewhere.
In the chat read out in court, the customer threatened to close his account and move to a competitor after his request for a no-deposit betting bonus was denied.
Robbie Waterhouse’s legal proceedings have been delayed by four months
The husband of legendary horse trainer Gai (left) is being charged with gambling offences
When the customer support representative confirmed that the account had been closed, he reminded the customer that the site was willing to match any deposit up to $1000 if the account was reopened.
Mr. Ranken questioned whether such an offer had been made before the customer requested to close the account.
Mr Waterhouse pleaded not guilty to six counts of accepting further bets following a request to close a betting account and five counts of offering inducements to a person not to close a betting account.
On Monday, the court was told that Australia’s most prominent bookmaker would have to wait almost four months to learn the outcome of his fight against the charges.
The court heard that the magistrate overseeing the case, Gemma Slack-Smith, has been relocated to Bathurst and will have limited availability to deliver her decision.
Ms Slack-Smith will announce her decision on 15 November.
If convicted of breaching racing and betting laws, Mr Waterhouse faces a fine of up to $121,000.
